Household debt
What Australian households owe against the size of the economy, and how that compares with the countries Australia is usually measured against.
30 September 2026Last checked
Australia now
112.1%
What Australian households owed in 2024, as a share of that year's economic output. 109.8% the year before.
Annual. International Monetary Fund.
Show the figures
| Period | Share of GDP |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 112.1% |
| 2023 | 109.8% |
| 2022 | 110.7% |
| 2021 | 117.7% |
| 2020 | 122.3% |
| 2019 | 119.0% |
| 2018 | 122.3% |
| 2017 | 123.0% |
| 2016 | 123.8% |
| 2015 | 121.0% |
| 2014 | 115.9% |
| 2013 | 112.2% |
| 2012 | 109.9% |
| 2011 | 109.0% |
| 2010 | 111.1% |
| 2009 | 112.2% |
| 2008 | 107.3% |
| 2007 | 109.2% |
| 2006 | 106.1% |
| 2005 | 101.3% |
| 2004 | 96.8% |
| 2003 | 90.6% |
| 2002 | 81.4% |
| 2001 | 73.9% |
| 2000 | 70.2% |
Australia against 45 other countries
2023, the latest year the IMF has for all 46. Australia’s 109.8% is 2nd highest of the 46. The dashed line is the median, 45.5%. The debt is set against one year of the whole economy's output, not against household income.
- Switzerland126.0%
- Australia109.8%
- Canada100.6%
- Netherlands95.5%
- South Korea93.6%
- New Zealand89.9%
- Denmark88.3%
- Norway86.9%
- Sweden84.5%
- United Kingdom78.3%
- Iceland72.7%
- United States71.8%
- Luxembourg67.4%
- Japan65.3%
- Finland64.2%
- France62.5%
- China61.9%
- Belgium57.6%
- Portugal54.8%
- Germany51.0%
- Chile46.3%
- Spain46.1%
- Singapore46.1%
- Austria44.9%
- Slovakia44.0%
- Israel42.2%
- Greece40.8%
- India39.9%
- Italy37.1%
- Estonia36.8%
- Brazil34.6%
- South Africa34.3%
- Saudi Arabia32.7%
- Czechia30.8%
- Ireland28.9%
- Colombia26.9%
- Costa Rica26.6%
- Slovenia23.9%
- Poland23.7%
- Lithuania21.2%
- Latvia18.5%
- Hungary16.8%
- Indonesia16.5%
- Mexico16.2%
- Türkiye10.8%
- Argentina4.0%
Annual. IMF, updated September 2025. 2024 arrives once Iceland reports.
How it is measured
- What it is
- Everything households owe in loans and debt securities, home loans, personal loans and credit cards among them, as a share of one year's economic output (GDP).
- Australia's figure
- The International Monetary Fund's figure for Australia, from its Global Debt Database.
- The comparison
- The same IMF measure for every country. It is set against GDP, not household income, so it says how large the debt is beside the economy, not how hard it is to repay.
- The countries
- The 38 members of the OECD, seven more G20 economies (Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa), and Singapore. The same 46 on every page.
- When it changes
- Once a year, when the IMF publishes the Global Debt Database.